Representation matters, even in the cannabis industry
Rihanna. If I’m being honest, it was @badgalriri who made me feel more comfortable and open about my cannabis use. She’s this beautiful and talented woman who shamelessly smokes (a whole lot of) weed. Her use of cannabis doesn’t deter her business acumen or her humanitarian efforts. Plus, she makes smoking look so damn sexy.
When I first saw her smoking weed I was shocked and happy, too. Because, in a way, I saw myself. It was the first time I saw a black woman who kind of looked like me who didn’t really fit into the “stoner” stereotype (you know the one: lazy, gluttonous, and ain’t doing shit with their life). Plus, she’s black. Prior to Rihanna, the only prominent weed smokers I could look to were black men, white men or white women.
Representation matters in more ways than one. While I’m no Rihanna, I sincerely hope that just by existing more women who look like me enter the cannabis space, see that there’s room for them in this world and eventually have the representation levels of black women or women of color in cannabis become very fucking visible. Because… we out here.
So drinking wine and taking Xanax is OK but smoking weed isn’t?
Blunt Blowin’ Mama would like to spotlight another woman, who requested to be called Fearless Bug.
“It sucks that they exist, but it’s something that just needs to be brushed off – I can’t change opinions when people’s minds are already made up. I know my truth,” she went on to write about the stigma on weed.
She highlighted an important point which is that there’s is a stigma on weed but many pharmaceutical drugs and alcoholic beverages are legal and considered socially acceptable.
“My experience with weed is that for me, it’s the equivalent of the nightly glass (or two or three) of wine or the xanax that my coworkers are able to legitimately and legally partake in without stigma.” – Fearless Bug
Women will face stigmas for everything we do but especially when we smoke weed
Blunt Blowin’ Mama would like to spotlight another woman named Patricia.
“We are always going to have stigmas with anything that someone is against. I think women are frowned upon for a lot of the things we do. I’m here to help break those stigmas though. The first time I smoked weed I was in seventh grade. I took my first hit off of a homemade bubbler haha. I thought I was so cool and I had no idea the life-long effect cannabis would have on my life <3” -Patricia
“I am a mother of four, cannabis has helped me as a parent in many ways. As a parent who suffers from a mental illness, cannabis helps me cope with that without feeling like a zombie. Cannabis is a part of my self-care. I smoke daily and those few minutes I take to recollect myself have so much power and meaning behind them.”
Mette lyana the crater of kush and Cute
Iyana created @kushandcute and she openly believes that more women of color need to be in the cannabis space. She also personally uses cannabis to medicate.
“I had this false idea that it would make you dumb or that people who smoked weed did nothing else but smoke weed and that it was a gateway drug (obviously not). Right after I graduated high school/before college I was hanging with a girl friend of mine who was a big smoker, and she wasn’t dumb and had her own job and apartment so I trusted her judgment when she encouraged me to try it but she never pressured me. One night while just hanging out at her apartment we smoked together and she really broke down to me the different types of weed.
“I have really high anxiety have my whole life, and I just remember for the first time ever my anxious thoughts were so much quieter. It was like the weed was a sponge and my anxiety was water, it just dissolved it instantly. I’ve been a cannabis user and advocate ever since. Weed has really helped me through some of my roughest mental health moments and has been a contributor to great memories or experiences. It’s crazy to think I used to be so anti-weed and now it’s such a big part of my life.” – Iyana
“A lot of people of color are honestly scared of getting in this industry because of that or they personally know someone that got arrested for weed,” she said, not mincing words: “We’re moving targets.”
For more of Iyana’s interview check out the full article here: https://impact.vice.com/en_us/article/ywxjkv/these-women-of-color-are-bringing-diversity-to-the-cannabis-industry
Meet Joy the creator of Mahogany Mary
Joy created @mahogany.mary because she wanted a lifestyle brand to exist for women of color who use cannabis, adding: “Mahogany Mary is for us, by us, inclusive of all but it’s for us.”
“I’m old and I’m at a point where if you don’t fuck with me because I smoke weed or that I have purple hair then I don’t fuck with you [either] — whether that’s a job, whether that’s a man, whether that’s a friend… like I don’t care.” – Joy
“I talk about cannabis very openly to erase the faux pas. I tell everybody I smoke weed. I make it so that it’s common.”
For more of Joy’s interview check out the full article here: https://impact.vice.com/en_us/article/ywxjkv/these-women-of-color-are-bringing-diversity-to-the-cannabis-industry
Meet Minnelli a cannabis yoga instructor
Minnelli has been a yoga instructor for a while and one day it dawned on her that maybe she should start incorporating cannabis into her classes.
Her thoughts on the lack of diversity in the cannabis industry: “The mainstream magazines and publications aren’t really showing women of color or showing the people I see every day making huge moves in cannabis. I feel like cannabis is coming out as a lifestyle brand — super bohemian and cool and hype — and for essentially the young white woman to consume and smoke with her friend.”
“The mainstream magazines and publications aren’t really showing women of color or showing the people I see every day making huge moves in cannabis.”
For more of Minnelli’s interview check out the full article here: https://impact.vice.com/en_us/article/ywxjkv/these-women-of-color-are-bringing-diversity-to-the-cannabis-industry
Creators of Cannaclusive are 3 women who grew tired of being the only black faces in cannabis spaces
Mary, Tonya and Charlese started @cannaclusive because they recognized that the cannabis industry needed to be more inclusive to everyone.
“Many times, we felt as if they had their token black person and we were making them comfortable by exceeding their quota. This sentiment trickled into advertising and much of the media’s depiction of the growing cannabis industry, and we didn’t feel that it had to be that way.” – Cannaclusive told VICE
“We were surprised to find that it [the cannabis industry] was a largely white male and female dominated space and that we were met with hesitancy, almost stupor as to how we found out about the events.”
For more of Cannaclusives interview check out the full article here: https://impact.vice.com/en_us/article/ywxjkv/these-women-of-color-are-bringing-diversity-to-the-cannabis-industry
Meet Lizzy Jeff the creator of Zen and Kush
Lizzy Jeff’s time spent working in a dispensary inspired her and “fueled her ambition,” which she says can be seen in her music, in the events she produces through @zenandkush and the education she provides at her events.
She credits being a budtender to making her feel “like a liaison between the plant medicine and the education,” adding, “cannabis for me has shown me that it is the gateway to the healing that we need.”
“We’re redefining cannabis.”
For more of Lizzy Jeff’s interview check out the full article here: https://impact.vice.com/en_us/article/ywxjkv/these-women-of-color-are-bringing-diversity-to-the-cannabis-industry
Photo credit: @carolinegodwinmedia
This healthcare provider uses cannabis to handle the stress from her career and family
Blunt Blowin’ Mama would like to spotlight a woman who would like to remain anonymous. ⠀
“I use cannabis, and I’m a healthcare provider who utilizes cannabis [so I’m] able to handle my life and the stress of always taking care of others. I’m not including a photo for obvious reasons, mainly that I could lose my place in nursing school at this time if people find out, but I still think it’s important to say that I do this, am this, and I am still more than capable of doing my jobs.
“As a stepmom of three, wife and a full-time nursing student, I use cannabis as a way to de-stress. It helps me handle the demands of motherhood and school which can lead me down a dark path of anxiety. Being able to use cannabis to decompress at night before bed makes all the difference. Not being stressed about tests, homework, and clinical helps me be a better student. And all of it is to better our lives.” – Anonymous
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